TW: Thank you.

DCMarvel heroes: Almost, not quite.

Gallifrey 22.3: Thank you.

THWA: I honestly doubt The Doctor would blink tbh.

New York Sanctum

Night

On the top floor of the Sanctum, Arthur was staring out the window up at the purple sky, his mind racing with what Merlin had revealed to him. He was so deep in thought he almost didn't hear someone approach, save for the creaking of the stairs. Arthur turned his head as Aragorn walked up the steps.

"King Arthur," Aragorn greeted him politely.

"I do not believe we have been introduced," Arthur noted and Aragorn nodded.

"I am Aragorn," Aragorn introduced himself and Arthur nodded.

"It is an honor to meet you, although I wish the circumstances were better," Arthur said before looking back up at the purple skies.

For a moment, it was silent between the pair until Aragorn spoke again.

"You are angry with Merlin," Aragorn noted and Arthur sighed.

"Yes…no. I do not know," Arthur said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "For years, I trusted him more than anyone. And he's been lying to me, since the first day we met. How many other lies has he told? How am I ever supposed to trust another word he says?"

"Can you not understand why he kept this secret from you? From what I understand magic is outlawed in your kingdom, punishable by death. Can you not try to see things from his perspective?" Aragorn asked and Arthur laughed humorlessly.

"He never gave me that chance. He never trusted me with the truth in all the years we've known each other. How am I supposed to trust him now?" Arthur asked and Aragorn was silent for a long moment. "Magic has always been used to destroy or inspire fear in Camelot. Those who use it have only ever tried to kill or manipulate me. How am I supposed to trust that Merlin is any different?"

"He did not have to tell you truth. But he did anyway, knowing he may lose your trust," Aragorn pointed out and Arthur couldn't deny that. "You have only seen the evil of magic. But I have seen it used for both good and evil. It is not inherently evil, any more than a sword is. It is the wielder that is either good or bad. And if you and Merlin were as close as you say you were, does he not deserve the chance to at least explain himself?"

Arthur did not respond, merely continued staring up at the purple skies. Sensing Arthur had a lot to think about; Aragorn turned and walked out of the room leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts.

In the library, Merlin was sitting down at a table, musing on the events since arriving here when Gandalf entered the room.

"I am sorry my friend. I know you wished Arthur alive more than anything else. To have him returned to you like this is a cruel joke," Gandalf said kindly and Merlin sighed.

"He hasn't tried to kill me yet, so he's already taking it better than I expected," Merlin said miserably. "I probably should have told him the truth a long time ago. Arthur has right to be angry with me."

"From what you have told me of Camelot, Arthur had great reason to distrust magic," Gandalf pointed out.

"But I also knew he was a good man. While he was distrustful of it, he wouldn't kill anyone over it. It was their actions he'd condemn. I knew this and still, I lied to him all this time. Maybe keeping my secret from him for so long was a mistake. God knows I made many mistakes when it came to Arthur," Merlin said with a miserable sigh.

"Dwelling on past mistakes will not fix anything. Perhaps you have been given a second chance to fix things," Gandalf said wisely and Merlin smiled weakly.

"Maybe," Merlin said and they lapsed into silence.

Only for Peter and Scott to rush in, Peter looking very alarmed.

"Someone's coming," Peter said out of breath.

"What do you mean?" Gandalf asked as he and Merlin looked to him in alarm.

"My Tingle went off. I think someone's coming," Peter said in a rush as Logan and Strange walked in, having heard the commotion.

"Tingle?" Logan repeated in incredulously.

"He means his danger sense," Scott supplied.

"Kid, you gotta call it something else," Logan told Peter.

But Merlin was not listening, closing his eyes and stretching out with his magic. Within seconds, he had found what had set off Peter's sense.

"Four of our friends from other worlds are near the Sanctum. They seem to be traveling together and are near the front door," Merlin said as he opened his eyes.

"Then let's go get them down to the cells," Strange said as Aragorn entered the room, having heard everything.

"Perhaps it would be wiser to see if they are a threat or not. Not everyone who has come to this world is an enemy," Aragorn pointed out.

"Aragorn makes a valid point. They may be willing to work with us," Gandalf added and Strange threw his hands up in frustration.

"Fine, but they make one wrong move, I'm putting them in the cells," Strange said grumpily.

Outside the Sanctum, The Doctor, Willow, Angel and Jack were standing on the front porch.

"You're sure this is where the spell came from?" Angel asked with a glance at Willow, who nodded.

"The magical energy coming from this place is off the charts and it matches what I felt before I got dragged here," Willow assured him.

"I don't believe in magic but it's the only lead we have. It's worth exploring," The Doctor noted.

"Anyone else feel like we're walking into a trap?" Angel wondered.

"Let's just say for the first time, I'm glad I can't die," Jack noted.

"You can't what?" Angel asked as he and Willow looked at Jack in disbelief.

"Long story we don't have time for," The Doctor cut off any questions. "The longer we're here, the more risk there is to the multiverse. We need to get answers as quickly as we can."

The group walked up to the door but, before anyone could do anything, the door suddenly opened on its own, taking the group aback.

"And that's not ominous or anything," Angel said dryly.

"Apparently we're expected," Willow said, her voice showing she liked that as much as the others.

"I think we need to be extra careful," Jack cautioned, pulling out his gun. "Be ready for a fight."

The Doctor, Willow and Jack walked through the door. However, when Angel tried, he found he couldn't move passed the threshold.

"Angel?" The Doctor inquired as they noticed he wasn't following.

"You have to be invited in?" Willow realized and Angel nodded.

"Seems that way," Angel confirmed.

"Are we missing something?" Jack asked as he and The Doctor looked back and forth between the pair.

"I'm a vampire. I can't come in without being invited in," Angel revealed, to their disbelief.

"But don't worry, he's one of the good ones," Willow quickly assured them.

"How many good vampires do you know besides me?" Angel asked confused.

"Spike," Willow answered and Angel scowled.

"Do not get me started. I had a soul before it was cool," Angel grumbled and Willow smiled slightly.

"We'll be back for you, I promise," Willow promised and Angel nodded.

"Find out what brought us, that's more important that getting me inside. Be careful though," Angel cautioned.

"We will come back for you," The Doctor promised once he found his voice.

Angel may be a vampire, but he was a far cry from the ones The Doctor had encountered over the years.

Angel nodded and the trio moved on without him. As they looked around the Sanctum, a voice spoke up, seeming to echo around the room.

"Stop where you are," the group turned as Strange stepped into view. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"That's a long story," Willow began.

"We're from another universe. We all suddenly appeared in this one. My red haired friend here tracked the source of whatever brought us here to this building," The Doctor explained and Willow paused.

"Huh. Guess it's not actually that long," Willow mused.

"Did you have anything to do with what's happening?" Jack demanded, holding his gun tightly.

"What do you want?" Strange asked vaguely, eying them suspiciously.

"We want to be sent home, hopefully before whatever you've done causes the multiverse to unravel," The Doctor said and Strange was silent for a moment.

"He telling the truth?" Strange called out.

"Hard to tell," The Doctor, Willow and Jack look over as Scott steps=ped out of the shadows, looking at The Doctor curiously. "He has two hearts. Makes it hard to tell if he's lying or not."

"How do you know that? "The Doctor asked in surprise.

"I can hear them," Scott said before turning to Willow. "Tell me why you're here."

"Like The Doctor said, we're trying to get home and stop the multiverse from collapsing," Willow said and Scott stared at her for a moment before nodding.

"They're telling the truth. She only has one heart," Scott said with a look at Strange, who nodded before Scott turned back to the others. "Sorry about that. We had to be sure."

"You can hear our heartbeats?" The Doctor asked in surprise and Scott nodded.

"Yeah. I'm a Werewolf," Scott said, taking them aback.

"Magic, vampires and Werewolves. The whole universe has gone insane," Jack muttered.

"I actually dated a werewolf once," Willow said, smiling at the looks on their faces. "Didn't really work out. We left things on good terms though."

"My kind of girl," Jack said flirtatiously and Willow shot him an odd look.

"Stop it," The Doctor said firmly and Jack merely smiled.

"I'm just being friendly."

"For you, that's enough," The Doctor deadpanned before looking at Strange. "We have a friend outside; he needs to be invited in."

"Come in," Strange called out and the door opened as Angel walked inside

"Thank you," Angel said before shutting the door. "So, who wants to explain what's happening here?"

"Kind of a long story," Peter said as he came out of his hiding place.

"He screwed up a spell trying to get him and his friends into college," Strange deadpanned and Peter flushed.

"That's not exactly the whole story."

"It is," Strange argued.

"Enough bickering!" Gandalf shouted as he emerged as well. "We must work together now to prevent the destruction of not just our own worlds, but every world."

"Gandalf's right, there's too much at stake to fight amongst ourselves," Merlin said as he followed after Gandalf and The Doctor gave him an odd look.

"Have we met? You look familiar," The Doctor said and Merlin looked at him.

"Can't say we have. I never forget a face," Merlin said before walking over and holding a hand to him. "I'm Merlin."

"Merlin, as in the wizard?" The Doctor asked and Merlin nodded. "HA! I actually took on the alias in my world. I'm The Doctor."

As The Doctor shook his hand, Merlin suddenly gasped, an image filling his mind.

It was The Doctor, although he was surrounded by flames. But the flames didn't seem to hurt him; they seemed to be coming from him. The Doctor straight ahead, his eyes glowing bright.

"I am life," The Doctor said, his voice seeming to echo with a thousand other Doctors speaking in sync.

The image faded and Merlin blinked, staring at The Doctor who was looking at him oddly.

"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked and Merlin nodded, realizing he was still holding The Doctor's hand.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Merlin lied, dropping The Doctor's hand as he wondered what that was.

And now the heroes have all met, so the plot can really start moving.

Fun fact, Matt Smith originally tried out for Merlin in the BBC show but lost it to Colin.

The scene with Merlin having a vision of The Doctor is probably confusing, but we'll get there eventually.